Mr. Thompson is pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay marriage, and anti-tax — like Mr. Romney. But he has one advantage over the former governor: He didn't just come to these positions over the last year or so, in a "Road to Des Moines" conversion.

On virtually every issue, Mr. Thompson is as far right, or further, than Mr. Romney, and he has been for some time. Mr. Romney's claim to fame so far in the campaign has been that he's the "true conservative" in the race — in contrast to Mayor Giuliani and Senator McCain. If Mr. Thompson jumps in, however, the rationale behind Mr. Romney's candidacy drops out.

"Romney would want [Mr. Thompson] in the race the least," the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, Peter Brown, told me yesterday. According to Mr. Brown, Mr. Thompson "potentially has the profile that no other candidate in the race has yet demonstrated, to appeal to the mainstream conservative."

The Thompson boom is the GOP's version of the Obama boomlet—a surge of support for a candidate whose record his supporters couldn't care less about, but who looks and sounds so much more appealing than the candidates they've gotten so far. In a GOP field that includes Tommy Thompson and Ron Paul, this seems awfully immature… but it's happening.

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Romney has executive experience as a Governor, a plan for health care that won’t ruin it, he’s younger, better looking, he is considered a financial guru, he has shown he can win a blue state, I’ve never met a mormom I haven’t liked, and he has a full head of thick black hair. Fred can’t touch him.

What is it with Republicans and former actors (not to mention athletes)? If there’s a former actor turned politician, 9 times out of 10, they’re a Republican. Yet Republicans are always the ones freaking out about Hollywood liberals and how clueless actors are.

So what is it? Are actors intellectual lightweights who should stay in Hollywood or are they just like any other profession and Republicans just need to stfu about their profession and talk about their ideas?

Actors know how to get attention. An actor who goes for the same team as all of his fellow actors won’t stand out. He’ll just be part of the supporting cast. OTOH, when an actor goes for the other team the reviews write themselves: “Ground-breaking performance!” “Dares to be different in his stunning new role!” “An unprecedented move in a career full of surprises!” “Two thumbs up!” “If you see only one candidate this fall, see him!”

They may have genuine beliefs, but they surely know that going for the unexpected team has its benefits. And surely the ones who stick to the home team know that they’ll always be part of the supporting cast because they don’t stand out.

If it is some actor/performer who also did other things in a manner that is appealing to Republicans they like then they are liked. I doubt that we will see Dennis Miller elected to anything, good bright fellow that he is.

Now, Fred did a few things that you might not be aware of, so check his bio.

Jane Fonda, Baabs and their pals, on the other hand, are loved by the Left for nothing more than spewing negitive things and hatred toward anybody with a R behind their name. When they do something productive, get back to me, but they are still enemies of freedom.

I wonder what percentage of voters in America base their decisions on what they see on network tv. Most folks I talk with dont dig any deeper than he sound bites they get before election time. These people will see that Fred was tough on crime with a high level of statesman-like fairness. Mitt is a mormon. Image is everything here.

My prediction is that by Christmas,(can I use that word still) people are gonna be real burned out on the current crop of candidates. Someone reasonably viable wil pop up around january and take the country by storm.

Bob Riley, Gov. of Alabama? Maybe a strong social democrat from Oregon. Maybe even a Ray Nagin?

The dogs in the hunt right now dont stand a chance. Our collective attention span is way too short for a 2 year race.

The remark about the baptized corpse is rather funny – I would even laugh, except for that it points up the one reason why Thompson could catch Mitt Romney. Anti-Mormon bigotry. Because if it weren’t for that problem, Romney would already be garnering tremendous support. The man has an incredible record. Just finished reading Hugh Hewitts new book “A Mormon in the White House…” Highly reccommended.

“Anti-Mormon bigotry. Because if it weren’t for that problem, Romney would already be garnering tremendous support.”

Why would people be anti-Mormon? Sure, they proclaim “We believe in the gift of tongues, prophesy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues and so forth.” Is that any worse than virgin birth? And what’s so wrong with bigamy? Heck, the whole “Latter Day Saints” means that they want to live under a church as people did in the first century AD. What could possibly be wrong with that?

According to a recent Gallup poll, 24% said they would not vote for a Mormon candidate for president, compared to 5% who said they wouldn’t vote for a black candidate and 11% who wouldn’t vote for a woman.

i live in the Illinois/Missouri region of the country. It’s full of history of anti-Mormon sentiment.

There’s actually some interesting happenings in Nauvoo, IL (a town where the Mormons once settled before being driven out) where Mormons are returning to the area and have been joining chambers of commerce, running for office, etc. The residents appreciate the tourist dollars, but my understanding is that there has been some tension (though not violent) about the changing character of the area.

We were at the last cubbies games at old Busch. Loved it. Stayed across the street at the Westin. Amazing. What a great vibe. What a great tradition and history. Stan the Man! It’s a bummer that KMOX doesn’t carry their games anymore. That’s my fall back for day games.

i’ll give the sCrUBS their due – i believe they took the season series with my redbirds. and a repeat like last year for the Cards won’t cut it this year.

I disagree that the Wood/Prior obsession has cost the cubs. What has cost the cubs is their fans insistence on packing that stadium every friggin game no matter how badly the team plays. If i owned the cubs, i’d put the crappiest product on the field possible and cut my payroll to $1M. cubs fans would show up anyway.

also, that title of best fans in baseball has created some serious monsters at busch. standing ovations for running out a weak ground ball to short, old people chastising you for booing ANYONE – because the Best Fans in Baseball can’t be rude or something like that. Ridiculous devotions to mediocre talents because they “play hard”, etc.

Cards fans were only the best in baseball before they were told as much.

Prior/Wood was seen as a magic bullet (albeit a very very unproven one), and the talk of “get 15-18 wins out of them, plus 16 from Zambrano, and you’re fine” distracted them from the major problems the team has actually had – fundamental mistakes, etc.

Before 2003, it was friggin easy to walk up gameday to get tickets.

Never knew that about the Cards fans. I merely described them as such from experience with other fans, and a deep, deep, deep hatred for all teams east of the Ohio/Pa Border.

strange as it is, i developed an affinity for the sox, because we got WGN down here and they’d televise their games. since i couldn’t root for the cubs because it is not in my dna and the threat of death from my dad, the sox became my american league team.

i completely agree – wood/prior were a distraction to what really ailed that team and the idea that they would cure everything if they could just remain healthy was nonsense.

but with new management and big changes, i have to admit that i’ve got a wary eye on the northsiders this year. thankfully we’ve got Pujols and Nelly to protect us.

cool – but just stay away from Chicago sports radio!!!!! Oh – you have to listen to Hawk. Apologies for that.

The WhiteSox have an incredible marketing team. And the spirit of Bill Veck makes Comisky a really fun place to visit. And the food there is terrific!

Pujols is absolutely amazing!

High# probably can give a better account than I, but the lines of sight in Comisky are, for the most part, excellent, and now that they fixed the upper deck so it’s not quite as scary (still is kinda scary), the seats are all pretty good.

So Guy, what were Arnold’s major accomplishments outside the field of acting before he was elected? Considering he wasn’t even that conservative before he took office. A lot of his support from Republicans was due to the R next to his name and he was popular in CA.

This is coming from someone that voted for him last election (I voted for McClintock in the recall).

Kerry strikes you as Presidential because he’s spent his whole life practicing his JFK impression in front of a mirror. Still, I see him as more of an ivy league college dean type than a President type.

Radicals”, for Capitalism? Strange…… I am not sure who the author of all this “stuff” is, but that’s what it is…. “Stuff”. Contained within the remarks or statements sent out, is some of the most anti LDS (Mormon) garbage I have yet seen in print. The author printed enough in that statement to indicate that he (assumed) is just intelligent enough, to make a very stupid statement.